Epigraph

On this episode we discuss ALL THE ROMANCE BOOKS with Bea &
Leah Koch, owners of The Ripped Bodice—America’s
only Romance bookstore. The Ripped Bodice is celebrating their one
year anniversary this month!

This episode is sponsored by
Books & Whatnot, the newsletter dedicated to books,
bookselling, and bookish folk; check out the newsletter archive
here. Follow Books & Whatnot on Twitter at
@booksandwhatnot.

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Introduction

In which we feel real fancy, learn more about geography, and
can’t stop asking for recommendations.

We’re drinking French 75s and feeling classy as fuck.

We’re Reading

Bea is reading Murder on
Black Swan Lane by Andrea Penrose (out June 27). And she
recently finished An
Extraordinary Union by Alyssa Cole, which she thinks will
be a great gateway romance (out March 28) about a female spy posing
as a slave. Fun fact, Alyssa Cole lives in Martinique, and Kim and
Emma’s geography lessons continue.

Emma is reading Hot Dog Taste
Test by Lisa Hanawalt—a graphic foodie memoir that is
weird and delicious. She also just started Kim &
Kim by Magdalene Visaggio, which is a comic about punk
rock bounty hunters in space.

Kim is reading Love Is
Love a graphic anthology written in response to the
Orlando shooting curated by Marc Andreyko; an important, but
difficult read. All proceeds for the book go to the victims,
survivors, and families affected by the Orlando Pulse shooting.
Which is to say, everyone should buy this book. She’s also reading
The Book of
Joan by Lidia Yuknavitch (out April 18) a futuristic space
Joan of Arc story, which hits weirdly close to home in its
political content.

Julie James will be making an appearance
at Ripped Bodice on her author tour!

The Devil in
Spring by Lisa Kleypas (#3 in The Ravenels series, with
the kids of characters from her Wallflowers series)

Emma is excited for Tender
by Sofia Samatar (writer of A Stranger in
Olondria and out April 11 from Small Beer Press) and
Next Year,
for Sure by Zoey Leigh Peterson, which is the only book
about polyamory she has read so she asked for more recs...

Chapter II [36:50]

In which we chat about The Ripped Bodice, the romance
community, and what it means to be feminist.

-Fifty Shades of Gray, why they don’t sell it (it’s not a good
representation of BDSM), and how they help customers find their
next read after Fifty Shades

-Ripped Bodice looks like a very fancy lingerie dressing room
(yes, they have a fainting couch). The store is separated into 5
Zones, which are decorated to reflect their genre: Historical,
Contemporary, Paranormal, Erotica, and Everything Else

Epilogue [1:02:20]

You can also sign up for the Ripped Bodice newsletter on their
website—they’ve got events, recommendations, and a thing called
Fitzwilliam’s Corner (that’s Fitzwilliam Waffles; he’s their dog,
he is awesome, and he has his own Instagram).

You can find us on Twitter at @drunkbookseller
and everywhere else as DrunkBooksellers (plural).

BONUS CONTENT

We always have more content than we can fit into one hour and
this time said content was extra interesting. So for all the people
who read our show notes and/or subscribe to our newsletter, here are a few more
recommendations from Bea & Leah